E. Rossoni notes that this surname is found throughout central and southern Italy, with a particular presence in the Naples area. According to this author, it would derive from a nickname based on a dialect modification of the Latin term magna, with the sense of "the great one".

V. Blunda, by contrast, considers it a surname of Sicilian origin and proposes a different etymology: it would come from the dialect word mànna, with the meaning "fortune, wealth fallen from heaven". The term goes back to the biblical manna, a symbol of miraculous provision, and as a surname it would have arisen from a nickname applied to someone who experienced a sudden prosperity or a notable stroke of luck.

Both proposals agree in pointing to an origin in a nickname, although they differ on the linguistic base: Rossoni points to the Latin magna, while Blunda links it to the Sicilian dialect lexicon and to the biblical tradition.